Objective: To analyse perceived barriers to access to formal abortion services and the demand for medical abortion in Turkey Design: Mixed-method study Population sample: Pregnant women in Turkey who filled the consultation survey on Women on Web website between 1 January 2013 and 12 October 2020 Method: Our dataset includes anonymized responses of 620 women to the online consultation survey and anonymized email correspondences of 138 women with the WoW help desk. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the survey data and a content analysis of email correspondences. Main outcome measures: Perceived barriers to formal abortion services in Turkey Results: The surveyors listed various reasons for requesting an abortion; while 59.68% of them mentioned that they just cannot have a child at this point, financial constraints (49.84%), wanting to finish school (31.77%) and being too young (31.29%) were among the leading reasons. Several barriers to access to formal abortion services were reported; the most frequently cited barriers include cost (48.31%), the need to keep abortion secret from partner or family (42.69%) and unavailability of abortion pills (44.94%). Our qualitative analysis of women’s email correspondences has demonstrated some additional barriers to and concerns over the formal abortion services. These include censorship of abortion information and misinformation, denial of care, concerns over spousal consent, cost, abortion method, trust, and confidentiality. Conclusions: We conclude that despite the legal framework, abortion remains difficult to access and approach for women in Turkey due to legal barriers and concerns over formal abortion services.

Objective: To evaluate the association between pre- and postabortion ultrasound and clinical outcomes after telemedicine abortion. Design: Cohort study Setting: Chile, Northern Ireland, Poland, South Korea. Population: 5298 women who performed abortion through the telemedicine service Women on Web (WOW), January 1st 2016 – December 31st 2019. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study on the associations between use of ultrasound pre-abortion and clinical outcomes using unconditional multivariate logistic regression. Intervention rates following routine or clinically indicated postabortion ultrasound were analysed using descriptive statistics. Main outcome measures: Self-reported rates of heavy bleeding, clinical visits within 2 days of the abortion, treatment for incomplete abortion, continuing pregnancy, and satisfaction. Results: Women with and without a pre-abortion ultrasound had similar rates of heavy bleeding (10.5% vs10%, AOR 0.98, 95% CI= 0.8-1.19), continuing pregnancy (1% vs 1.3%, AOR 0.68, 95% CI= 0.39-1.19), and satisfaction (96.8% vs 97%, AOR 0.95, 95% CI= 0.67-1.35). Women with a pre-abortion ultrasound were more likely to visit a hospital within two days of the abortion (6.6% vs 4.4%, AOR 1.35, 95% CI= 1.04-1.75) and receive treatment for incomplete abortion (13.7% vs 8.7%, AOR 1.58, 95% CI= 1.32-1.9). Overall rates of surgical evacuation for incomplete abortion were 9.8% after routine postabortion ultrasound and 27.6% for clinically indicated ultrasound. Conclusion: Non-use of pre-abortion ultrasound was not associated with higher rates of adverse clinical outcomes or lower satisfaction. Routine postabortion ultrasound may result in unnecessary clinical interventions. The results come from observational data where a certain selection bias is possible.

Objective: This study aims to provide insight into the use, acceptability and outcome of a large group of women who self-managed medical abortion. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Self-managed abortion worldwide. Population/Sample: 30344 women who completed the follow up from of the telemedical abortion service Women on Web from January 2009 till January 2020. Methods: Analyses of the evaluation forms, binary logistic regressions were performed to test the association between year and outcomes for the total sample. Main outcome measures: Demographic information including age, economic situation, country of living,knowledge about abortion pills and acceptability. Rate of complete abortions, surgical interventions, ongoing pregnancies, blood transfusions per year. Results: 30344 women from 183 different countries completed the follow-up evaluation. In total 26076 women reported taking the medical abortion pills, of which 1.5% reported an ongoing pregnancy, 10.2% a surgical intervention, and 0.6% a blood transfusion. 99% found it to be an acceptable method. 35% found it difficult to make a donation for the service and 8.5% received the service for free. 59.2% reported that they knew about medical abortion before finding Women on Web. We found a significant increase in complete abortions in 2019 (OR= 1.92; 95% CI: 1.59 – 2.31), and decrease in surgical interventions (OR= 0.49; 95%CI: 0.40 – 0.60) compared to 2009. Conclusion: The findings of the outcomes of the 26076 self-managed abortions in this study are in line with previous research , suggesting medical abortion through telemedicine is safe, effective and highly acceptable to women.